recommend me a trolley jack please

TrickyWicky

What s b is saying is one of these:


They are rock solid, very good quality and will be far more reliable than a £20 jack. Unfortunately they are anywhere from £80 - £100 and very heavy (mine is 36Kg). As with all trolley jacks, I'd never leave a car supported by just a jack - it will gradually damage the seals inside even if its just for a wheel change (scissor jack is better for that - no hydraullic seals). Axle stands are worth their weight in gold.

oldagetraveller

The problem with those jacks with near vertical handles is that they're no good where the jack head has to be placed towards the centre of the vehicle. The front trolley jacking point of some Toyata models is in the centre.
However, I use the sill jacking points and use an ice hockey puck with a centrallly cut groove which fits nicely over the vertical seam on the sill. One of those jacks is fine then.

catflea

I have the halfords lifting kit, and that jack has taken a hell of a lot of abuse from me and my family! Its still perfectly functional 3 years on. I'm very happy with it.

The wheel chocks in that set though are about as useful as a chocolate teapot!

red_eye

oldagetraveller wrote: »

The problem with those jacks with near vertical handles is that they're no good where the jack head has to be placed towards the centre of the vehicle. The front trolley jacking point of some Toyata models is in the centre.
However, I use the sill jacking points and use an ice hockey puck with a centrallly cut groove which fits nicely over the vertical seam on the sill. One of those jacks is fine then.

you can still pump the handle from horizontal takes a while longer

latecomer

TrickyWicky wrote: »

What s b is saying is one of these:


They are rock solid, very good quality and will be far more reliable than a £20 jack. Unfortunately they are anywhere from £80 - £100 and very heavy (mine is 36Kg). As with all trolley jacks, I'd never leave a car supported by just a jack - it will gradually damage the seals inside even if its just for a wheel change (scissor jack is better for that - no hydraullic seals). Axle stands are worth their weight in gold.

I know exactly the sort of thing thats being suggested (I worked in a car spares business in a previous life) but for the occassional use it will get its not really viable - plus the weight and size is vastly more than a lightweight alternative.

pendulum

I've got the Halfords kit. For occasional DIY use you don't need anything more and you don't need high reach. The axle stands can go a lot higher than the jack can lift the car to, but for the times you need high lift...

Jack the car up as far as you can and put it on axle stands
Remove the jack, put something firm on the floor and put the jack on top,
Now that the jack is higher, you can jack the car higher, and rest the car on a higher axle stand setting
Repeat etc.
Just do the reverse to get the car down again.

It's a bit of messing around, but if your doing it only occasionally it's no problem, and perfectly safe so long as you're careful and sensible. I've done it loads of times.

latecomer

Thanks - know about that already but I'd rather have a little more lift from the jak if possible.

espresso

latecomer wrote: »

Thanks - know about that already but I'd rather have a little more lift from the jak if possible.

The Halfords jack £37.99 here has a lift of 38cm and the Lidl jack 35.7cm £19.99 - is the 2.3cm extra lift, less than 1 inch that important to you? Enough for you to pay an extra £18!

latecomer

No but it depends on whether the quality is comparable. I'll maybe pop round to our local one at lunch - any idea how to tell if they would stock the jacks without going in? Still cant find the offer sheet you posted on their website or any product info.

TrickyWicky

The thing is the home DIY jacks don't really have a good lift range. I'm afraid if you're holding out for something with a good lifting maximum height you will be disappointed. I've been there and done that. My car is quite a lot higher off the ground than many other saloons so my old DIY jack wouldn't lift it very high which made life a bit difficult. When my neighbour finally broke the damn thing (leaving it supporting the entire weight of his car all day - severely damaging the internal seals) I decided to get a proper workshop jack. Not only does it lift twice as high it's a darn sight more reliable too. The downside is the cost, size and weight of course (and if you have a bad back I definitely recommend you only get one if you can drag it to its storage location as this will really screw your back if you lift it).